A Fox's heart
by demonfox910
Summary: Sasuke's gone. He can't let anything like that cause Sakura pain anymore. Set during and after the mission to the Land of Rice Paddies. Formerly called "I Can't Let You Get Hurt Again." Being rewritten as "A Fox's Heart V2."
1. Battle on the bridge

**My main problem with writing has always been my difficulty with cohesive storylines. To that end, I've always been predisposed to writing fight scenes, and I love it when people piss Naruto off and he kicks they're asses into next week. And since I feel evil today, some idiot is going to piss Naruto off. And by the way, a lot of these jutsus were made up by me.**

Few people understand life's bad points more than Naruto Uzumaki. He is the jinchuuriki of the most powerful bijuu, the Kyuubi no Yoko. He didn't have any friends more most of his childhood. The village he protected every day by keeping the demon contained, the village he _fought_ to protect as a ninja in its service, treated him like filth. He was never just a child. He was never even an ordinary ninja. To those pricks, Naruto was always a filthy demon spawn undeserving of their love, respect, or protection.

Despite all that nonsensical crap, Naruto never hated them. He just wanted what was rightfully his, what they would never give him. Naruto wanted respect, acknowledgement. That's where his dream of "The Next Hokage!" comes from. Of course, not everyone was horrible to Naruto. His teachers Iruka, Kakashi, and Jiraiya all liked him. Teuchi and Ayame at the ramen stand were always kind to him, and his teammates and classmates, as time went on, generally got along with him.

The thing is, since Naruto didn't have anyone for a good deal of his life, he clings tightly to those he has now. His friends are his family, and, to him, every single "precious person" is more than worth risking his own life to save. So this is an example of why you do not, ever, ever, fuck with Naruto's precious people.

Because if you do, you are dead. You beat Naruto and he'll get straight back up. You hit him util anyone else would be bloodied and broken and he'll put on a cocky grin and ask "That all you got?" See, you can't stop him because he doesn't give and he doesn't quit and he never breaks a promise. He will just come back until he's pounded your face into the dirt and then he'll wait for _you_ to rise so he can do it again.

Team Kakashi was always somewhat unstable. They started out with a loser, a fangirl, and a broody avenger who belittled his teammates. The loser became stronger, practically by himself and almost unbeknownst to his team, the fangirl took the initiative after some self-denial and started training under the finest medic-nin on the planet, and the broody avenger turned traitor and nearly killed the loser, his best friend; Naruto Uzumaki.

The former loser and the former fangirl worked themselves almost to death to transcend their respective limits and bring home the only one who hadn't changed; the broody avenger, Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto had three main goals in his life: Bring home Sasuke and save his soul from being consumed with hate, become the greatest Hokage and be acknowledged and respected, and win the heart of the former fangirl: Sakura Haruno.

When Team Kakashi had been wittled down to only two members because the avenger was busy being a traitorous jackass and their sensei had been hospitalized, Naruto and Sakura were joined by the token creepy effeminate guy-Sai-and the creepy undercover guy-Yamato aka Tenzo.

They started going out on missions again, and life became _somewhat _normal, but normal for Konoha's knucklehead ninja and beautiful cherry blossom means something completely different than what it would mean to you or me, so no one should be surprised when a mission to bring home their beloved friend goes wrong.

***dattebayo***

Today finds the newly reformed Team Kakashi racing through Rice Country to crash an arranged meeting between a spy and Sasori of the Red Sands, who had been killed by Sakura and the Late Elder Chiyo of Suna on the Team's last mission.

They reached the bridge in silence, stopping to recover at the side opposite of the spy's expected arrival. Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato reached into their packs for a quick drink. For an unknown reason, Sai did not. Naruto turned to Team Kakashi's newest member and frowned. "It's not a good idea to not drink. You'll get dehydrated, and even if I don't like you, the Team'll suffer if we aren't all on top form."

Sai smiled what was obviously a fake smile. "I wouldn't be worried about me being on top form. Perhaps you should be drinking a little extra." The fake smile got even wider and even faker. "After all, I'm not a pussy."

The whiskered blond turned scarlet at the last comment and grabbed Sai by the front of his shirt. "You wanna run that shit by me again, you pale creep?" He growled, practically feral. "I thought we had some kinda understanding back at the damn hot springs, but if you really want your head to roll, go ahead." Naruto leaned in close then, so Sai could see his slit pupils and larger-than average canines. "I dare you." He growled. "**Keep talking**." Sai just kept a smiling expression and gently detached himself from the raging demon container, backing off a couple steps. Sakura, for her part, kept a straight face throughout Naruto's uncharacteristic outburst. After all, she had no reason to like Sai.

Yamato stood up after a quick swig from his water bottle. He sighed and looked up at the two teenagers. "Are you guys done?" He asked. "Because I'm not above controlling you with force if I run out of other options." The captain's eyes were almost bugging out of his head, and Naruto found himself wishing for something to put between this weird guy and his own face. Sai nodded curtly, and after getting over the freaky expression on Yamato's face, Naruto did the same.

"Okay" he said. "Here's the plan: You guys'll wait here. I'll meet with the spy and signal you if the need arises. But first, I need to get into character." The former anbu slapped his hands together in the snake seal and intoned "Mokuton". Wood and chakra rose around him and formed into the hunched shape of Hiroko, Sasori's preferred walkaround puppet. The disguised shinobi turned to Sakura. "I'm going to run through different tones of voice. Let me know when I have it right and I'll stick with that when talking to the spy." The rosette nodded. Yamato ran through several voices; high and low, clear and hoarse, before, with Sakura's instruction settling on a deep, gravelly voice very much like that of Sasori when in the puppet.

With that matter settled, Yamato explained how they would be positioned. He would wait, in clear view, at their end of the bridge, to meet the spy on the bridge when he arrived. Sai, Naruto, and Sakura would wait behind a mound of dirt and rocks on the same side, ready to intervene and aid the captain, or restrain the spy.

They didn't have to wait long. Within less than a half hour of waiting, the slim figure of Kabuto Yakushi emerged from the path on the opposite end of the bridge. The traitorous medic started conversing with the former anbu, but then without warning darted in and lashed out with his signature move, the chakra scalpel, breaking Yamato's disguise and grazing his upper right arm. The captain immediately flicked his right index and middle fingers, signaling the rest of the team. The genin, chunin, and anbu immediately formed up in front of their captain. Naruto already had grown claws and fangs, and his eyes were now slitted with blood-red irises replacing cerulean.

The feral genin growled savagely. "Well, call the rest of the people I'm sure you brought, you traitor." He taunted.

Kabuto smiled. "Naruto-kun, please. I do not need any assistance to defeat two anbu, a female medic, and a rank genin such as you. Orochimaru-sama permitted me to take this most important assignment alone. We learned of Sasori's demise immediately, and we have been tracking your group since you departed Konoha."

Naruto just ground his teeth. "You're alone, huh? Okay, then, you traitorous fuck," Sakura stepped in then and at the same time, they both asked "WHERE IS SASUKE?"

Yamato and Sai stayed silent. However, Sai had drawn his scroll and brush and had already laid out several drawings; ready to kill when he formed a half-ram seal. Yamato had been channeling chakra into the bridge, charging its materials for a jutsu to hold Kabuto.

Without warning, the sadistic Oto shinobi reformed his chakra scalpel, both hands for good measure, and charged. Naruto quickly drew his two bowie combat knives from their sheaths on his lower back, and met the charge, screaming like a man possessed. Kabuto swung his hands down in an effort to lop of the teen's arms, but was surprised to see both of his strikes intercepted by red chakra blades emanating from the combat knives. The sadist smiled, well, like a sadist. "Wind nature. And chakra knives. Much like Asuma-san's technique." Kabuto's tirade, however, was cut short as Naruto braced his feet and snapped his muscles taut, pushing back Kabuto and ending the blade lock.

At that moment, Yamato formed a snake seal and slammed his foot on the ground, intoning "Mokuton." The wood on the bridge rose and wrapped around Kabuto's ankles. He jumped into the air with impressive speed, escaping the entrapment, only to be met by and enraged Sakura, her fist brought back for a punch. With a yell of "SHANAROOOO!" the rosette landed a monstrous haymaker to Kabuto's gut, sending him hurtling towards the end of the bridge.

Kabuto landed hard, breaking several ribs and a shoulder, not counting the rib breaks and internal damage he had already received from the punch itself. As his body struggled to repair the otherwise fatal damage, he heard "Ninpou: Super beasts imitation picture." The medic looked up to see several ink lions surrounding him, some with fangs and claws mere inches from his face. There was Sai behind them, and scroll in one hand and his double-sided tanto in the other.

The anbu suddenly looked serious. "I suggest you surrender, or this may become painful for you." He said.

Kabuto just gave a weak nod, one thought running through his head as Yamato raised a wooden cage above his head. _Why did I try to take all four of them at once?_

***dattebayo***

"Orochimaru-sama!"

"Yes, how is Kabuto?"

"I regret to say he failed and has been captured, my lord. Have I permission to dispatch cleanup, or shall you wish to attend to it personally?"

"Dispatch cleanup, but I shall go as well; there is no need to dispatch my bodyguards."

"Yes my lord. I wish you good luck."

"Luck does not exist. And if it did, I do not recall ever needing it. Now get out of my sight."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." The man quickly bowed and ducked out of the room, shutting the door on his way out. The snake sannin, former akatsuki member, and S-ranked criminal sighed happily. "At last, Naruto-kun, you have come to visit me." He then rose. However, it was not the face of a pale, black haired man in his 50s, but the face of Sasuke Uchiha.


	2. A cornered fox

**Okay just to clear something up. I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! I wish I did, but Kishimoto's got me there. And the jutsus of my own invention were not included in the last chapter, so I have them listed here.**

**Fuuton: Falcon Rush**

**Fuuton: Cyclone palm**

**Fuuton: Slam dance**

**Raiton: Titan's Knuckle**

**Doton: Gaia's judgement**

**Mokuton: tangled branches**

**Ninja art: crimson masterpiece**

**Mokuton: Bramble slash**

Several Otogakure shinobi, totalling thirty, were en route to Kabuto Yakushi's last confirmed location, in the custody of four Konoha shinobi. Two estimated S-rank opponents-the jonin and jinchuuriki-and an unresearched medical chunin and an anbu. Dubbed "the cleanup" they were a deadly sweeper team; trained to eliminate invaders, traitors, and captured members awaiting questioning. Orochimaru himself, clad in the skin of Sasuke Uchiha, led them, thoughts of capture, torture, killing, and agonizingly sweet triumph filling his disturbed mind.

*dattebayo*

Kabuto Yakushi lay inside a wooden shell crafted directly to his body, unconscious and slowly regenerating his shattered body. Sakura had declined to accelerate his healing, saying "He deserves far more pain than that." Frankly, no one had either a good reason to disagree or the balls to.

Naruto's demon chakra had receded, reverting him back to his normal appearance. Though. Strangely, his eyes had remained slitted. He was still flush with anger at the traitor for not saying a thing about Sasuke, though, and for belittling their skills, and betraying Konoha, and for being a douchebag, and…..well, for a lot of things.

Sai and Yamato had been on a quick patrol while Naruto and Sakura stayed with Kabuto. They had since moved, and were approximately three miles away from the battle site at the bridge. Any farther would have been a hindrance with Kabuto, and their mission was not complete yet, so any thoughts of complete retreat were out of the question.

Sakura sat with her back against a tree and her knees to her chest, deep in thought. Naruto stood next to Kabuto's wood-encased form, twirling one of his chakra knives in his right hand.

Sakura stood up and turned to her blond teammate. "Hey, Naruto?"She asked.

"Yeah?"

"What if we don't find Sasuke-kun? What if we lose him again?"

Naruto whipped his head back at his pink-haired teammate. His Sakura-chan _never _gave up on Sasuke. She had been the one to reassure him when the retrieval mission had failed two years ago. She had said she would get stronger and she had. He was _way_ stronger than he had ever been. It seemed their chances of getting their teammate back had only improved, so why was she feeling so doubtful and dejected? He could see it in her face; she was genuinely upset.

Naruto sheathed his knife and walked over to his crush and knelt beside her. "What is it Sakura-chan? We'll definitely find Sasuke and bring him home. I promised and I never go back on my word so we will definitely bring him home!"

Sakura looked at Naruto with a sad expression. "But it's been two years! What if they've brainwashed him? Killed him? Stolen his eyes? His body? I had never thought of it before, Naruto, but it's been two years! How many things could they have done to Sasuke-kun in that time?" Tears were now welling up in the rosette's eyes, and the scent of saline was stinging Naruto's hypersensitive nose.

Naruto was actually kind of scared for Sakura now. He had to put some of these concerns to rest.

"Sakura-chan, Orochimaru has to wait three years to do the body-transfer thing, ero-sennin told me and he's good at what he does. And Sasuke has dreams, he has a purpose, it's not like he's gonna let that perverted snake bastard mess with his mind. He's too tough for that." The blond put an arm around Sakura's shoulders, bringing her close to him as she tried to hold in her tears. He started stroking her hair. The emotions welling up inside him started conflicting. Excitement that he was holding Sakura, concern for Sakura, wanting to comfort Sakura, hate for Orochimaru and Kabuto, sadness that Sakura felt for Sasuke and not him, anger at the general shittiness of the world then and how much he wanted to punch something.

Sakura ceased her crying and nuzzled into Naruto's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered comforting words. She was just regaining her composure when an eerily familiar voice said "How sweet, Naruto-kun. You seem to really have it good with the ladies, don't you?"

The Kyuubi vessel felt his crush tense in his arms. "Naruto?"

"_**Orochimaru**_" He growled. "Sakura, you leave him to me unless there isn't any other choice."

No, Naruto, that's…."

"No arguments." Sakura was shocked by Naruto's tone and the fact that he had already gone first-phase-jinchuuriki. "That old piece of snake-shit is mine." He removed his arms from the rosette and started mouthing a countdown.

_Three. Two. One. _Faster than most eyes could follow Naruto spun and shot to the left just as Sakura went right. He laced his fingers into the bird symbol and was about to spit a Dust Storm. Sakura raised her fist above the ground to blast away anything and everything with a shockwave. Then the two former members of team seven got a good look at "Orochimaru."

Naruto was struck dumb. "Wha….but….no…."

Sakura stretched her hand out to the man she loved. "Sasuke-kun?"

*dattebayo*

Blood sprayed everywhere as Sai slashed the Oto ninja's throat. He turned and saw ten more attacking him, forming seals and hurling kunai and shuriken. He blocked or dodged most but one kunai nicked his cheek and a minor fire justu singed his calf. The root member grimaced and dragged his ninjustu scroll across his cut. He hurled it to the ground and doused it in chakra ink. When that was done he started forming seals at a speed Kakashi Hatake would envy. By the time he completed the twenty-third seal two seconds had passed. He stomped on the inky ground and commanded "Sacred Ninja Drawing Arts: Crimson Masterpiece."

The ink rose up from the ground, intercepting any further assaults. Then it turned purple, and kept lightening to a crimson red. Sai stretched out his hand at the bloody chakra ink and, responding to his will, it morphed into the shape of two small ninjas, no more than children. Both had swords in their hands and Fuuma shuriken on their backs. They were holding hands. The Oto shinobi looked questioningly at Sai.

He glared at them. "This is an ancient technique, combining art and the user's blood into an extension of themselves." The grey-clad ninjas suddenly looked fearful. "Now do you understand? This drawing is the physical manifestation of my soul, and it's about to tear you to shreds." Sai looked away when the screams began. There was a reason he refrained from using his best techniques. Art is made up of memories. He didn't want to remember.

Yamato, not one hundred yards away, was engaged with the remaining ninja. Five were suspended in the air, having been pierced by his first technique, which had called a labyrinth of stone spears from the ground. The remaining fourteen were now wary, but they were obviously skilled and experienced and wouldn't back off. Six darted forward and the anbu captain went through four seals in quick succession.

"Mokuton: Tangled Branches" He intoned. Several branches shot up from the dirt and grabbed the advancing ninja, as well as shielding him from the remaining eight. Yamato quickly formed the snake sign. "Kill." The branches constricted crushing the unfortunate men. Yamato then switched to the ox sign. "Bramble Slash." The branches released their hold on the broken bodies and grew massive thorns before swinging outward in wide arcs, taking three more ninja's heads and legs off. The remaining eight were really becoming nervous as a pair of chakra-hardened tonfa shot from the ground right into Yamato's hands. He gave them a wry smile. "You guys wanted to fight me, right? So bring it on!"

*dattebayo*

"Sasuke-kun, why do you…..you can't be….." Sakura was completely flustered. She had no idea what was going on. Naruto however, had gained the ability to sense chakra signatures during his training and he knew exactly what was going on.

"Orochimaru, you do know that I will have to tear you to shreds for this, right?" He had gone from first-phase jinchuuriki form to a seething red chakra cloak with three tails. His chakra knives remained sheathed. He would kill this prick with his claws and fangs.

"Naruto what are you doing? That's Sasuke!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "No that's not, Sakura-chan. That's Orochimaru. Sasuke's dead."

"You said Orochimaru needed three years!" At this, "Sasuke's" face erupted into a wide grin.

"He didn't transfer bodies." Naruto was full out crying now, clenching his fists, claws digging deep into his palms. "He transferred chakra."

Orochimaru punctuated the statement with a laugh. "You have become very perceptive, Naruto-kun." He smiled. "You are right. I couldn't wait to have possession of Sasuke-kun's body, so I simply pumped my chakra into his soul, possessing it and absorbing his own chakra. Do you get it? I have not stolen this body, nor made it a second skin! THIS IS MY BODY! WITH THIS I AM TRULY IMMORTAL! ALL OF SASUKE'S TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING THE SHARINGAN, BELONG NOT TO THIS BODY BUT TO MY CHAKRA!"

Sakura was whimpering and hugging herself. Naruto hated seeing her like this. He spat angrily. "_Shut your fucking mouth._"

"Oh? Is that anger I hear Naruto-kun?" The sannin smiled devilishly.

"_**WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK! OF COURSE I'M FUCKING ANGRY! YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND AND THE OLD MAN AND COUNTLESS OTHERS SO NOW I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"**_

With that, Naruto shot forward like a dart, delivering a vicious right hook to the sannin's face and hurling him into the trees. He performed a set of seals and screamed "_**FUUTON: SLAM DANCE**_!" Multiple pockets of compressed air formed above the vicinity and then shot down like wrecking balls, destroying everything they struck. He saw Sasuke's body crawling out from a fallen tree and locked onto it.

"_**FUUTON: FALCON RUSH**_" Before he even finished speaking, the air compressed behind Naruto and rocketed him forward, a miniature funnel forming around his body. He collided with Orochimaru's prone form, sending up an enormous dust cloud.

Sakura regained her composure and looked out to see a three-tailed Naruto straddling Orochimaru's chest and tearing at the seemingly-unconscious sannin with reckless abandon. What she did not expect was to hear Orochimaru ask "Is that all you have for me?" and send Naruto hurtling into the dirt several feet away with a lazy kick. The body-thief walked towards Naruto, murder in his eyes. Naruto rose and screamed in rage and disgust, sweeping his right hand in a backhanded swipe meant to remove Orochimaru's stolen face. Orochimaru caught the blow, sustaining no damage from the chakra cloak, and began fighting back with a flurry of punches so quick Sakura could not decipher any movement, just a blur. It soon became clear that Naruto was no match for his opponent as Orochimaru, fighting in a clean boxer's stance, dodged every attack and retaliated with punishing counters.

After a couple minutes, the chakra cloak receded from Naruto. Without its healing properties, blood began welling from Naruto's face.

What used to be Sasuke's mouth split into a smug grin. Orochimaru began speaking in a baby voice.

"Come and get it, dobe."

The uttering of Sasuke's usual jibe set Naruto's spirit aflame. A growl erupted from the back of his throat. He straightened himself and glared at the miserable fuck that'd killed his brother-in-heart.

"You're gonna be sorry you said that." He said with all the kindness of an executioner. "My body, soul, and will may go to absolute shit but you are going to hell today."

Naruto threw back his head and let down his mental blocks, allowing the terrible power inside him access to his body as he uttered something between a roar and an agonized scream. His skin began peeling off as crimson chakra lined his body's form, becoming a miniature kyuubi, the embodiment of death contained in a human form. The thing let out a tortured screech and sped at Orochimaru, who still sported a cocky grin.

Quicker than the human eye could see, Orochimaru spat out kusanagi, his sword, and intercepted Naruto's attack. Even the legendary jian couldn't cut the genin in bijuu mode but Naruto had not the strength to even crack the blade and so Orochimaru used it like a jutte; blocking and redirecting attacks, and delivering quick blunt force attacks.

However, in bijuu mode Naruto was practically tireless and he fought through the strikes, slashing the sannin's chest and delivering crushing tail strikes, punches, and kicks. Now it was the demonic fox pushing back the reptile, with Sakura, the only onlooker, praying for it to end. Relief seemed far away, however, as the two kage-level opponents sought to rend each other's souls out of existence.

After several minutes of the harsh stalemate, Naruto screeched and hurled back his opponent, expelling both demonic and regular chakra from his body. Orochimaru's face had been a picture of concentration, his grin dissolved, but now he took on a look of pure ecstasy.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, finally! I have been waiting for a real test! So test me, be the first victim of my sharingan!"

With that pronouncement, Sasuke's eyes took on their trademark bloodline. Naruto's demon-influenced mind comprehended three daggers intersecting in the center of his opponent's eyes, which must have been Sasuke's Mangekyo. As the jinchuuriki watched the sannin, the chakra he had expelled was gathering in front of his face.

The two chakras condensed into a fist-sized ball that the jinchuuriki swallowed. He then began to swell like rising dough. Meanwhile Orochimaru began laughing like a madman and swallowed Kusanagi, a long tongue lolling between his fangs.

Naruto's body looked like a giant red bowling ball. Putrid gas began to leak between his fangs. Orochimaru raised his eyebrows. There was an electrical _zoom _as the chakra shot out of Naruto's mouth in a condensed beam. Orochimaru splayed his fingers out and placed them on either side of his eye.

The sannin chuckled and uttered a single command. "Infernal Eclipse." There was a crackling sound as a burst of jet-black flame shot from the sannin's left eye. Then it swirled and condensed, forming what seemed to be a black hole ten feet across in front of Orochimaru. The menacing ball struck it and was absorbed, with no damaging effects to either Orochimaru or the surrounding landscape.

Orochimaru grinned devilishly. "Amaterasu is a fire capable of burning anything. It can never be put out. I forced the technique to show itself then made a few adjustments." The demon ninja cocked his head to the side. Orochimaru looked elated. "I have burned a hole in the fabric of space and time, creating a vortex that will swallow any ninjutsu! Do you see, Naruto-kun? I am perfect! With these eyes I shall master all the jutsu in the world, and no one will ever be able to use ninjutsu against me!"

Naruto stared at his opponent, unable to comprehend speech. The most lethal trick in his arsenal had just been neutralized, and his human form could not hold more demonic chakra without permanent, irreversible damage. He did the logical thing in such a situation. Just as blood began leaking out of his opponents left eye, he charged. Then fell on his face.

Orochimaru had demonstrated his new-found power. He had been momentarily stung by the aftereffects to his eye, but he could have still taken on this genin for several hours. Then the boy runs at him, and falls! This was his moment of glory. Now the boy's demon cloak was receding, revealing a lack of skin; just charred, bleeding muscles. Disgusting. Destroying a collapsed child brought no glory. The sannin ground his teeth in anger.

"This is a jinchuuriki's limit?" Orochimaru said, enraged. "This is the limit of a future Hokage? Is THIS your limit, NARUTO UZUMAKI?" Orochimaru scoffed at the unconscious genin and spat in his face. He looked at himself "Look, you ruined my shirt, what an accomplishment." The sannin ripped said garment off, exposing pale, unmarked skin. "You're pathetic, Naruto-kun." The sannin breathed, dragging a pale finger across the blonde's cheeks. He reached into his mouth and withdrew the sword of Kusanagi. "Now perish like the useless fool we both know you to be."

Watching from a distance, her eyes overflowing with tears, Sakura had seen everything. Had seen Naruto willingly give into his primal side to kill Orochimaru, had seen the most intense amount of chakra she'd ever seen stopped almost effortlessly by the killer of the man she had loved. Now she saw her best remaining friend, a steadfast teammate and companion, about to be killed by the same murderer. In her beloved's body. She knew, without a doubt, what she had to do. It's what Naruto was trying to do. It's what Kakashi would do. It's what Sasuke would have wanted done

_Naruto. You've always been there for me. Protected me, supported me, comforted me. You care for others before yourself, never thinking about consequences as long as they're you own. I haven't repaid you, cannot repay you for everything you've done for me. That's why, I CANNOT LET YOU DIE!_

Sakura slapped her hands together in a crisp tiger seal and commanded "Raiton: Titan's Knuckle." Her hands began glowing blue and purple, and crackling with rapid electric bursts. The medic then leapt from her hiding place and charged Orochimaru, who was standing over Naruto with his sword raised. She drew her hand back and thrust it at her foe, striking Orochimaru in the face with a lightning bolt before he delivered the killing blow to Naruto. Orochimaru turned to this new threat, an almost bored look on Sasuke's handsome face.

"Don't you touch him!" Sakura yelled. "You've taken Sasuke-kun but you won't have Naruto!" She closed the little remaining distance between her and the sannin and started pounding away at his body with every ounce of strength her body and jutsu could generate. Any other living thing would have been destroyed with a single lightning shrouded punch, but Orochimaru just stood there with blood oozing from his eye, the punches landing harmlessly on an infernal eclipse.

After what had to be a full three minutes, Sakura stood back to see what she'd accomplished, breathing heavily. Her eyes widened as she saw Orochimaru's defense, something she hadn't noticed because her eyes hadn't opened the entire time. Orochimaru cocked his head to the side. "You're weak" He stated simply, the punched her in the gut, catapulting the medic into a fallen tree. She spat blood and went limp. The sannin was now severely disappointed and very, VERY bored. Time to do away with this Hidden Leaf trash. "Now Kusanagi shall cut your throat as well." He said. He inched towards Sakura, an emotionless expression on his face.

_You're weak. Kusanagi….your…..too…..You won't have Naruto! _"Sakura-chan?" Naruto raised his head, to see the woman he loved with the jian of legend less than six inches from her lovely neck. "So long….." Orochimaru said, bringing Kusanagi up for a final swing.

"_**NOOOOOOOOO!**_" An ear splitting scream of pain and rage cut through the air. Orochimaru looked back at Naruto, who was sporting another fox cloak, this time with a complete nine tails. For the first time, the sannin's eyes widened in fear.

Naruto sunk inside his mindscape, entering a dark, wet sewer, with the only recognizable thing being an enormous cage containing the most deadly power known to the current ninja world. Outside, time stood still.

The fox felt Naruto's anger, the internal pain and horror that had actually turned them into friends over the years. He had done his best to aid the kit during the fight, controlling much of the combat himself. However, an enemy hadn't been born since the rest of the bijuu that could stop a menacing ball and it had become clear that his tried-and-true policy of kick ass, kick some more ass, get some ass, sit on my ass, rinse and repeat, would not work against an enemy who could cancel out demon chakra. That, in itself, was a power Kami himself would envy. He did have one option left, but it would involve some serious pain and even worse hurt than the kit had ever endured. However, the kit's life had been some piece of smelly horse shit on the road up until about two years ago. He could handle it.

So when Naruto approached his tenant's cage he found the fox ready with a plan. This, time, the ambitious genin had no tears left to shed. His face was an expression of determination. For nonce, the knucklehead ninja had gone steely calm. If he was sentimental, The Kyuubi would've pitied his host's victim.

The old fox spoke first. "Your vixen's in a bad way, kit. And it's pretty obvious my fighting style is useless. Yours isn't much use either, because without me bolstering your physical abilities, he'll mop you up. And he's only now getting serious with us."

Naruto had to force himself to stay composed. Though he wasn't going to deny a thing the Kyuubi had said, his bad side's pessimism wasn't good. If the Kyuubi no Kitsune didn't think it could kill something, that was generally the time to drop your pants, bend over, and kiss your ass goodbye. However giving up was in the "not an option" bin today. This was one fight Naruto could not afford to lose.

He said "I'm standing aren't I. As long as I can stand we can fight! He's scared, too! I'll outlast him. There's no way he has more chakra than me. Also, if Sakura dies, I die. I won't lose. I don't have a choice."

The fox sighed. "Kit, you can stand because my chakra is giving you the strength to. Right now I'm using all I can spare to regenerate your skin. The only reason the snake is spooked is because he doesn't know what you're capable of with nine tails. I assure you though, it won't change a thing."

Naruto threw his arms in the air. "Well, then, great and almighty douchebag, how do we win this?"

The Kyuubi grinned. "Well, kit, you have one option. However, it's never been attempted before, will likely be extremely painful if not fatal, and is batshit insane."

"Okay" Naruto said, intrigued. "What do I have to do?"

"Absolutely nothing, kit, leave it all to me. Just close your eyes and pray." With that, the fox's form became intangible. He walked through the bars of his prison, straight at Naruto.

"Whoah, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, extremely startled. That cage should've held the fox forever.

"Don't shit yourself, kit." The Kyuubi said, putting more affection than he ever had before into the word _kit_. His tenant had no parents, or any family at all, so it fell to a demon to care for this child. It was truly a sad story. The most deadly creature in the universe thought this as his spectral form melted into the mental image of Naruto Uzumaki.


	3. A new man, a new bloodline

**I don't own Naruto. *quiet weeping***

**Hey Guys,**

** Anyways, you may have noticed I replaced chapter 2 with something else that's about twice as long. The deal is, I was rushing to finish before I left for Wisconsin, and so it was a bit rushed and sloppy. I think the new one is loads better. Thanks to everyone for the story alerts and favorites, they make my day like you wouldn't believe and are a great motivator and confidence booster. Anyway, let's see what's happening to our favorite blonde, rosette, creepy guy, and even creepier pale guy.**

The first thing Naruto felt was pain. Unimaginable agony, like there were red-hot needles repeatedly stabbing him all over. His mind was a blank. He couldn't think any cohesive thoughts while his nerves were ablaze. The Kyuubi sensed Naruto's pain, but now that the process had started, the only choice Naruto had was to endure it.

_Hang on, kit._

***dattebayo***

During his fight with the remaining sound ninja, Yamato had felt an enormous surge of chakra that could only be Naruto fighting. Yamato had noticed that Naruto's chakra was so massive, even without the Kyuubi's chakra behind it, that if you could sense energy at all Naruto was a beacon. Not a minute later, he felt an even bigger surge, but that time it had been the Kyuubi's chakra, not Naruto's. He had quickly smashed the last Oto shinobi's skull with his tonfa, delivering two simultaneous strikes to his enemy's temples, and then dashed in the direction of the energy fluctuation.

What Team Kakashi's current captain did not notice was the absence of Sai, who unbeknownst to everyone but himself and Danzo, had slunk with a captive Oto shinobi in search of Orochimaru's lair.

When Yamato found the source of the chakra he saw the deserter, Sasuke Uchiha, with blood leaking out of his left eye. Both eyes now possessed what had to be the legendary Mangekyo sharingan. Instead of three black tomoe, there were three red slits intersecting at Sasuke's pupils. The irisis were jet black. In front of Sasuke was Naruto in a full nine-tails cloak. Yamato's panic button went on override and he gripped his right wrist in anticipation, but then halted. Naruto was clutching his head and screaming, but the form of Konoha's number one knucklehead ninja was still very clear. He had _not_ become a miniature Kyuubi, as Master Jiraiya said he would. Perhaps he had learned to better control the Kyuubi?

Then Yamato noticed something…off about Sasuke. The last Uchiha had a fearful look in his eyes, but at the same time looked expectant, almost glad if it could be believed.

Weighing these factors, Yamato decided to wait it out. Then his wandering eyes saw Sakura's unconscious and injured form on the base of a tree. He quickly entered the battlefield, unnoticed, and retrieved the medic to hide in his original position. He quickly went over a plan. He would step in if Naruto succumbed to his current ordeal, but only if. The captain was not devoid of sympathy. If Naruto wanted to fight his best friend, he'd have no interference. After all, the Uchiha traitor- actually _both_ of the Uchiha traitors, if you thought about it- had tried to kill Naruto. He had the right.

***dattebayo***

Orochimaru was perplexed; he had completed defeated Naruto, had been attacked by his teammate with the pink hair, and had knocked her out as well. Then the blonde child had stood with a full demon cloak as if to attack, but had almost immediately grabbed his head and started thrashing, screaming in what sounded like mortal agony.

Then, as fast as it had begun, the fit had stopped, and the boy was now hugging himself like a tiny child in a rainstorm, uttering something between a whimper and a deep growl. The sannin's eye's widened even further, blood still staining the left side of his face. _He couldn't be…._

***dattebayo***

Naruto had finally felt the pain subside. Finally coherent, he thought _Fox, what the _fuck _did you do?_ To Naruto's surprise, he got an answer, from inside himself.

_I saved us, kit. Neither of us could kill that prick with your human body and my restrictions, so I merged my spirit and my chakra with your body. I should be able to speak to you more easily, and you to me, and you may be a little…..ummmmm…..foxy. But aside from that you should just be a metric fuckton and a half more dangerous. _

Naruto took a couple seconds to process all this. _Okay, I'll probably look a little different, you are now a part of my brain (creepy) and I'll be more of a badass then I was before, is that right?_

_Yep. _

_Doesn't sound that bad, really._

_I hope you're right. Now get out there and kill him. I'm pretty mad about him threatening the vixen and belittling my power._

_Fuzzball, you're preachin to the goddamn choir._ With that, Naruto exited his mind.

The first thing Naruto noticed was that there was no chakra cloak around him, and that he was hugging himself tightly. He raised his head and Orochimaru was looking at him with a very uncertain, and rather fearful expression. Naruto released his grip on himself and looked at his hands.

They seemed normal up until the tips of his fingers, where his fingernails had been replaced by inch-long claws. They glinted like polished steel. Naruto flexed his hands, and found that he could retract the claws at will.

The blonde's gaze then traveled to his arms, which were bare due to most of clothing having been shredded during the course of the fight. Thick golden fur, about a centimeter long, grew on the undersides of his forearms, the tips of the hairs a bright red. Naruto wondered if the hair on his head was the same. He plucked out a strand and saw that it was. The now half-demon looked down at his legs to see that they had received the same treatment as his arms; his calves were covered in fur, twice as long as that on his arms, and his toenails had been replaced with claws; claws he found he could not retract. He felt the back of his neck, where an unbelievably thick mane had sprouted, all gold with scarlet tips. Had he a mirror, Naruto would have seen a line of fur following his spine to his lower back and ending at his waist. Feeling around with his tongue, Naruto noticed that his incisors were slightly pointed and sharp. His canines had grown to miniature stilettos. Naruto also felt a slight bit taller. He just didn't know how much.

Orochimaru stood stock still. He was now undoubtedly sure that the Kyuubi had forced an internal merger with its host. The chakra emanating from the boy was different than a human's or a demon's. It wasn't as repressed as a human's nor as corrosive as a demon's, but more powerful than either one. With his sharingan active, Orochimaru also deduced that it wasn't blue or red, but a mixture, forming a purple hue so bright it was almost uncomfortable to look upon.

The boy's physical features were further evidence. His shock was so great he could neither utter a word nor make any movement while the genin inspected his new body. It was obvious that the damned fox had endowed the child with several _combat worthy_ physical traits: the claws and fangs would Naruto a much bigger problem in close quarters, while the fur served as armor for his spine and several blood vessels. Also, Naruto looked at least six feet tall now and more muscular.

Naruto decided he'd finish admiring himself later. He had a job to do. He first took a look around for Sakura and didn't see her. He panicked momentarily, but then he sensed Sakura's chakra signature next to Yamato's and deduced what had happened. _Nice job, taicho._

Naruto dropped into what looked like a modified Jyuken stance. The differences were that his feet were farther spread, his body pointed sideways, and his fingers half clenched, to claw and punch. He saw his foe raise his hands to form seals and shot forward at cheetah speed, closing the distance in less than a second.

_For Sasuke_;Naruto thought, as he slashed his claws across the sannin's chest.

***dattebayo***

Sai entered Orochimaru's hideout cautiously. His timing had been absolutely perfect. He had felt two enormous chakras. One was clearly Naruto and he guessed the second was Orochimaru. If that was true his biggest obstacle was absent. Even so, he was being careful out of both principle and necessity. His tanto was pressed against his captive's throat.

"Okay, this is it. Like I said, no tricks."

The Root member fake smiled. "Thanks." He said. "You've been very helpful." Then he slashed the Oto nin's carotid artery in one quick movement, careful to get no blood on himself. The body dropped, ruby spray gushing from its neck. Sai reached into his backpack and withdrew a scroll, then sealed both the body and the blood. He'd give the scroll to Danzo-sama for study later. He then turned and slunk down the dimly lit hallway to complete his secret assignment.

_Come on Uchiha. Get out here._

***dattebayo* **

Then first strike had caught Orochimaru by surprise. Naruto's claws had shredded his flesh, carving four bloody furrows in the sannin's skin. Oorchimaru had recovered and struck back, trying to get the time to cast a jutsu, but Naruto wasn't giving him enough leeway for even a substitution.

Orochimaru swung at the teen with Kusanagi, attempting to remove his head. Naruto ducked the blow and spun like a breakdancer, landing two kicks to Orochimaru's ribcage. Orochimaru winced as Naruto's claws carved shallow cuts in his flesh. He retalaiated with a left jab, which landed, but then as he attempted to withdraw his hand and strike with his other hand, he felt Naruto's fangs close on his wrist, missing the major blood vessels by millimeters. Naruto used that grip to yank Orochimaru back and then deliver a vicious heel kick to Orochimaru's diaphragm. The sannin was knocked backwards and fell fifteen feet away, then rolled to avoid a blast of fire from Naruto.

_When did he learn to do that? _Orochimaru thought. He was forced to abandon his thinking, however, when the Leaf ninja charged him with renewed ferocity. Orochimaru quickly shot through a set of seals and commanded "Suiton: Moisture edge". A thin, concentrated line of water shot from Orochimaru's mouth to shatter several trees. Naruto had just barely dodged a fatal, the jutsu having ripped his shirt and cut his side mildly. Naruto flinched at the minor injury and so Orochimaru commamded "Hidden snake hands". Five massive pythons extricated themselves from the sannins skin and wrapped around Naruto, sinking their fangs into him and squeezing with enough strength to destroy any lesser ninja's ribcage. "Die, you impertinent child!" Orochimaru hissed, his tone far more venomous than even the most deadly cobra.

Realizing he wouldn't last much longer, Naruto strained and expelled a violent burst of wind chakra from his body, shredding the reptiles binding him into bloody ribbons that fell around the hybrid like crimson hail. Gobbets of flesh in his hair and snake blood covering his body, Naruto growled like the animal he somewhat was and attacked again. The time he had taken to kill the snakes, however, had given Orochimaru time to form several sets of seals, and so Naruto's charge was met with a wave of ninjutsu. He saw fireballs, blasts of water, rock, lightning, and of course, snakes. He concentrated all the chakra he could into a wind chakra wall in front of him. Surprisingly, it had a faint purple sheen. _That's weird…_He thought as the attacks bounced off. Unfortunately, Naruto momentarily forgot his training on elemental relations and when Orochimaru's fire jutsu passed through the wall of wind it expanded and struck Naruto in the chest, burning his shirt but causing only minor damage to his skin. _I'll ask the fox later._ He decided, then simply ripped the smoldering remains of his shirt off and formed the bird seal. As Orochimaru rushed him with Kusanagi drawn, Naruto put his hands on either side of his mouth and said "Fuuton: Dust storm" exhaling a stream of air and sand. The blast caught Orochimaru in the chest and hurled him across the now flat expanse of land they fought on, where the trees were felled in a quarter-mile radius. As he landed, the sannin slammed his left hand down on the ground, sending out a small shockwave. Orochimaru raised his head, hair soaked in sweat; dirt, grime, and blood matting his face, and growled out "Summoning Jutsu".

Naruto clenched his teeth and summoned wind chakra into his hands just as white smoke obscured Orochimaru from his view. When the cloud cleared, there were five of the largest snakes Naruto had ever seen. Each had to be at least one hundred feet long, with the largest, the one with Orochimaru standing on its head, had to be about two hundred feet. Orochimaru pointed Kusanagi at Naruto. He was panting heavily and his voice and expression were manic.

"I have enjoyed this test but it is now over. You will perish at the hands of your better, Naruto-kun. NOW DIE, UZUMAKI!" Orochimaru screamed. The snakes charged, their hissing drowning out any other sound. The first snake made a beeline straight for Naruto. When he stopped the titanic reptile one-handed and smashed its face into the ground he finally began to realize how much the Kyuubi had changed him. He unleashed the chakra he'd focused into the hand holding the snake, yelling "CYCLONE PALM!" The reptile's head exploded. The second reptile was directly above Naruto with its mouth open and so he performed a bicycle kick, striking it in the jaw. It careened over Naruto's head and he spun to catch the snake by the nostrils. Yelling "RRRAAAAGGGHHHH!" He swung the reptile like a giant baseball bat, striking the third snake and shattering its spinal cord. The fourth snake ducked the swing and shot straight for Naruto. He quickly killed the snake he was holding with a second cyclone palm, but couldn't get his hands up fast enough to prevent his being swallowed by the fourth snake. He yelled in rage as he traveled down the things stinking esophagus. _Not again_. He thought with an unheard groan. _These things seriously need to brush their teeth_.

"NO!" Orochimaru screamed. "NO, you disgusting reptile! Spit him out! I will be the one to kill him!" Just as the chastised summon opened its mouth obediently to vomit out its victim, All hell broke loose.

Naruto dug into the deepest recesses of his body, freeing his most powerful chakra reserves. Unbeknownst to Naruto, he was about to give birth to a new Bloodline Expansion. His natural affinities for wind and lightning combined with the Kyuubi's pyrokinetic abilities to create something entirely different.

Outside of the snake's stomach, Orochimaru noticed his summon begin to gag. That was normal enough, it was trying to vomit. He became nervous, however, when a bright purple glow began emanating from the snake's throat. Before the sannin could react, he heard a massive roar. "**YYYRRRAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!**" The snake vanished in a column of the brightest light to shine on this earth, putting the sun's daily glow to shame. The column of plasma engulfed and incinerated the snake that had swallowed Naruto, while plasma bursts sprung out in all directions. Orochimaru could barely make out Naruto stretching his arm in his direction. The energy followed Naruto's order as several bursts struck the snake Orochimaru was standing on. The beast hissed and fell, Orochimaru winding himself as he struck the ground. Hard. The plasma burned straight through both his shoulders. He judged it was unlikely he's use his arms again. He looked mournfully at the column of pure destruction, Naruto spread-eagled at its center. The genin's mouth was open, his defiant roar still echoing as his chakra burned into the pillar of light. His eyes shone as brightly as the plasma.

After a few more seconds, the column dissipated, and Naruto fell to the ground, landing smoothly on his feet. As he walked towards his defeated adversary, it could be clearly seen that what remained of his clothes had been smoldered and shredded by his last attack. His blood-red eyes with their slit pupils were still glowing faintly with power as he addressed the snake sannin.

"It should have been the Third Hokage's privelage to tell you this, Orochimaru, but since you stole his life two years ago, I'll speak in his stead." Naruto took a deep breath. "You've fallen so far, Orochimaru. You were once one of the most powerful and respected ninja in existence, and now you've been reduced to a disgusting, murderous, inhuman piggybacker who can't do anything without someone else's body. You took Sasuke's body, and now I've taken his arms away from you, so once again, before you die, you know how it feels to have your precious ninjutsu out of your reach. In just a few moments I'll likely remove _Sasuke's _body from existence, and your wretched soul can go with it." Naruto squatted to look the traitor dead in his stolen eyes, now without the strength to activate the sharingan.

"How does it feel, snake-shit?" He asked mockingly. "How does it feel to know that a rank genin, who also happens to be a disgusting demon brat, has reduced you to crawling on your belly like the snake you are? _You _ambushed _me_. _You_ have the sharingan. You lost today, Orochimaru, because I was the better fighter, the better ninja, and the better person." Naruto rose again and pointed his right hand at Orochimaru.

"Sasuke is my brother. The Third is my grandfather. Sakura is my love. Konoha is my home and it's people are under my protection. You have at least tried to rob me of all of that. This is your punishment. Forgiveness is between you and Kami."

Naruto's hand started to glow purple and wind swirled around it. "This for all the people you've hurt, who never had the strength or will to fight back. May they determine your ordeal in Hell. CYCLONE PALM!"

The concentrated burst of air struck Orochimaru is the spine, kicking up a cloud of dust. When it cleared, Orochimaru was gone. In his place was a pile of splinters, undoubtedly what used to be a log.

The fox spoke for the first time since the fight had renewed. _Sorry kit._

Naruto couldn't believe it. He'd let the prick escape. He'd let him ESCAPE! All he could do was utter a quiet "I'm sorry, everyone…" before his exhaustion caught up with him and he collapsed.

He hadn't won. The snake had slunk away again. Now he was completely spent in the middle of a destroyed forest in the Rice country. _I hope Sakura's alright….._


	4. Aftermath

**Yo, guys, gals, dogs, cats, reptiles, arthropods, invertebrates, and cheezits. (I love CHEEZITS!)**

**Naruto: Is the author insane Sakura-chan?**

**Sakura: Naruto you baka that's not nice!**

**Me: So now Sakura shall mud wrestle with Ino!**

**Naruto: Wooot! Hell Yeah! This author guy isn't crazy at all!**

**Sakura: (Sakura is dragged into a mudpit by Ino. Both are wearing pink bathing suits.) He's a monster! Help!**

**Me: And now Naruto shall mud wrestle with Sasuke! (Sasuke appears wearing a speedo with the Uchiha crest it)**

**Naruto: NO! HE'S A WACKO! (Naruto gets a speedo with a little fox on it. Sasuke grabs Naruto, throws him over his shoulder, and skips over to a conveniently placed mudpit)**

**Sakura! You're a doctor! Fix the author's brain!**

**Sakura: (Mud wrestling with Ino) I'm kindof *glub* occupied Naruto!**

**Me: Hehehehe it's good to be an author**

**Anyways, serious time now. I had originally intended for this to be just a short story about Orochimaru getting his ass beat, but I'm gonna see if I can transcend my limits and do something with this story. That said, don't expect any miracles, but I do have a couple (hopefully interesting) things planned for Naruto.**

**Speaking of Naruto I know he may seem a little off character, but my Naruto is a little different than the show's. The guy is fifteen. His language and actions may have a tendency to get colorful. In that respect I've cursed the guy to be somewhat like me. He's still a lovable knucklehead though, so don't worry.**

**Anyways, let's see what happens to Naruto now that Orochimaru has escaped and he's unconscious. What about Yamato and Sakura? And what's Sai going to do without a Sasuke in the hideout?**

***dattebayo***

Sai had seen absolutely no one in the entire lair. It had to be at least a square half-mile in size and he couldn't feel a single chakra signature. That had been particularly strange. What was even stranger was the room he was standing in. He was surrounded by test tubes and bottles with grotesque, unidentified contents.

_Orochimaru and Kabuto's playroom_. He thought. It was obvious, though, from the sheer amount of equipment, that there had once been multiple researchers here, not just Orochimaru and Kabuto.

He took a minute to inspect the room, in case any of its contents could be of use to Danzo-sama. He didn't find anything of that nature, but something of note was that two containers had been recently emptied; in fact they were still open. One had been marked "Kimmimaro" and the other said "Sakon". Sai was not familiar with either of those names, so he disregarded the finding as unimportant. He checked again for chakra signatures, and, finding none, withdrew a parcel, the size of a large book, from his backpack. There was a timer on it. He set the dial to fifty seconds and sprinted back the way he'd come. As he tried to escape the coming explosion, he recalled when Danzo had given him his orders.

_Flashback_

_The grizzled old council member turned to his subordinate, who was kneeling before him._

"_How may I be of service, Danzo-sama?"_

"_You are the most talented shinobi of your generation, and I have need of your skills. You are aware, of course, that Sasuke Uchiha defected from this village to join Orochimaru two years ago?"_

_Sai smiled. "I am familiar with that." He said, somewhat cautiously._

"_Are you also aware of the fact that Sasori of the red sands was killed during the recent mission to Sunagakure?" Danzo asked._

_Sai bobbed his head in a quick nod, still smiling with his eyes closed. "I read every mission record you give me carefully, Danzo-sama. If I am correct, Sakura Haruno and the late Elder Chiyo finished him, yes?"_

"_You are correct, but that information is irrelevant. What _is _important is that Sasori was Orochimaru's former partner in Akatsuki, confirmed by Sasori himself. He informed Sakura Haruno that he would be meeting a spy of Orochimaru's at a bridge in the Land of rice patties in less than a week. Team Kakashi is short two members. Hatake himself is recuperating due to his use of the mangekyo sharingan." _

_Danzo had already resolved to let Kakashi keep his sharingan. It was, after all, \a benefit to the village, especially with his own sharingans unknown to all but Danzo himself and select few root members. _

"_Tsunade is appointing Tenzo, out of the Anbu Black Ops, to be the team's temporary captain. You are going to be filling Sasuke Uchiha's vacancy." Danzo finished and waited for a response._

_Sai's face retained its fake smile, but Danzo noticed the mask slip for a second. He saw anger, worry, and even sadness. The old man was slightly disappointed; and made a mental note to have more time devoted to Sai's emotional training. Then Sai spoke. "I understand. However, I am somewhat confused as to the purpose of placing me on this team without any special orders."_

_Danzo almost, _almost_ smiled, his disappointment in Sai nearly forgotten. "I expect no less, you look underneath the underneath. As it is, you are indeed being assigned special orders. Your primary objective is the death of Sasuke Uchiha. I do not care about the manner in which it is done, but that boy is a traitor to the village and so he must die, and I expect proof to be brought back. If possible, conceal his death from your teammates. This will turn into a very shrewd political matter that I intend to handle personally. Lady Tsunade will need convincing of this act's necessity. Naruto Uzumaki will likely be after your head."_

"_I understand sir. However, should Sasuke prove too strong, have I permission to abandon the mission?"_

"_I doubt that will be a problem." Danzo produced a parcel from beneath his robes and threw it to Sai. He caught it one-handed, without lifting his head. Danzo continued talking. "That is a missive of alliance addressed to the Otokage. That obviously is Orochimaru. The missive is from me, entailing a joint effort to topple Tsunade and all current Konoha dignitaries. Remember that the letter is a fake. It is to be used as a means of passage into Orochimaru's base, or village; just so you have access to the Uchiha. Your final order involves sabotage. As you are aware, Orochimaru has a reputation for researching the bodies of shinobi and possessing those he finds most fitting. That is the reason he recruited Uchiha. Your final objective is to find his research and destroy it. You may take whatever supplies you think you will require from the armory upstairs. Just remember that whatever biological samples you find must be destroyed. His records are to be disposed of as well. Do you understand?"_

"_Yes, Danzo-sama."_

"_Repeat your objectives in the proper order."_

"_My primary objective is the death of Sasuke Uchiha, proof to be obtained and returned to you. If possible I am to conceal his death. The missive you have given me, detailing an alliance between Root and Orochimaru, is a fake meant to gain access to Sasuke Uchiha. I am also to destroy Orochimaru's research if possible. This includes written and electronic records." Sai finished._

_Danzo nodded, well pleased. "No one is to know of this discussion. Remember that peace awaits beyond war. Now go, and help bring peace to Konoha."_

_Flashback end_

Though Sai would never say it, he had little love for Danzo. The man was a dedicated patriot in his own way, and truly loved Konoha, but his views were radical and shrewd. He'd tried to destroy Sai's emotions as a child, but Sai had vowed to stay human; both for his own sake, and the sake of his dead brother. _Obviously emotions don't weaken someone, because they gave me the strength to be a strong ninja._

Despite his personal feelings, however, he knew that Danzo usually made the right decisions. Sai could not deny the justice of getting rid of Sasuke, or the necessity in destroying Orochimaru's research.

As he thought this, Sai withdrew a scroll from his backpack. He was about halfway to the exit, with only about thirty seconds left. He threw the scroll on the ground and leapt to the wall to keep himself of the floor. He formed a half-ram seal and said "Kai". Suddenly the hideout's floor was flooded by eighteen kiloliters of napalm , which spread out to fill the entire hideout. The explosion from the lab would react with the flammable gel, filling the hideout with flames and incinerating the whole place.

Sai exited the lair and pumped all the chakra he could into his legs, doubling his speed. He shot away at an incredible speed. When he was about a quarter-mile away, the lair exploded. Liquid fire shot into the sky, forming a mushroom cloud the size of a skyscraper. Sai didn't look back; he didn't even think. He just kept running.

***dattebayo***

As soon as Naruto collapsed Sakura (now conscious) and Yamato had rushed to his side, still in awe over what they had seen. Naruto raised his head just as Sakura started healing his exhausted body with her mystic palm jutsu. Yamato, meanwhile, placed his palm on the ground and closed his eyes.

"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry. I couldn't bring Sasuke home. I'm sorry I couldn't avenge him. I…..I broke my promise. I'm so very sorry." Naruto croaked, tears filling his eyes.

Sakura's eyes were wet as well, but her expression turned angry for a second. The she promptly socked Naruto upside his head, while still casting medical jutsu with her other hand. "Naruto you baka! You saved me! And you beat Orochimaru! There was nothing anyone could do…..Sasuke was gone by the time we got here….." She said, trying to ease her teammate's internal turmoil.

Naruto wasn't having it. "Sakura-chan, it's still my fault. You lost the man you loved." His heart broke as he said this, but he couldn't keep inside the frustration, anger, and sadness at all. He didn't have the will to.

Sakura shook her head vigorously, tears falling from her face. "Naruto I want you to promise me something."

Naruto saw an opportunity to make this up to Sakura. "Anything!"

Then Sakura did something completely unexpected. She leaned in and kissed Naruto on his cheek. The blonde was struck dumb. He couldn't form words. All he could do was stare star struck at Sakura as she spoke in a tearful, but forceful tone. "I want you to promise me you will never blame yourself for any of this. You tried your best. I don't even know if Tsunade-sama or Jiraiya could have done what you did today. So be satisfied that we did what we could. I know Sasuke was like a brother to you, and he…he meant a lot to me too, but never, ever blame yourself!"

The kiss had struck Naruto dumb. The speech almost fried his brain. He thought that his Sakura-chan would be mad at him, and rightly so, for everything. "I…I don't know. It…."

"Naruto!" Sakura said, tears still streaming down her beautiful face. "You have to promise me!"

He sighed. "Okay. I…I promise."

Sakura smiled, and Naruto passed out, a smile on his face as well.

Seeing that the kids had finished with their private moment, Yamato walked over and spoke to Sakura. I don't know what technique Orochimaru used to escape, but there aren't any signs of him I can pick up by reading the earth."

He quickly formed a wood clone. The copy ran off just as an enormous explosion shook the earth. Sakura, Yamato, and the clone looked up to see an enormous mushroom cloud.

Yamato formed the signs again and made three more clones. Three ran off in the direction of the explosion. The original turned back to Sakura. "My clones are going to investigate that and then find Sai." The last clone went the opposite direction. "I understand that you and Naruto likely forgot about him, so that clone is going to go get Kabuto, assuming he's still where we left him, and hopefully not swallowed by all of this." The captain waved his hand vaguely, gesturing to the enormous crater and vast destruction caused by Naruto and Orochimaru.

He then looked down at Naruto's unconscious form and rubbed the blonde's thick (now even thicker) hair.

"Great job kid. Jiraiya, Kakashi, Tsuande, they'd all be proud." Yamato didn't give praise lightly. But by Kami, this kid had survived a massive influx of demonic chakra, _destroyed _five A-rank summoned snakes, and defeated one of the most dangerous ninja in existence. _You've gained my respect, Naruto_.

Sakura was still smiling and cradling Naruto's limp form. Then suddenly, burns started appearing all over his skin. At first they started as red spots, simple first degrees. Then the burns seemed to be progressing slowly, first blistering, then becoming charred and indented, full third-degreee injuries.

Sakura yelped in surprise and then began frantically applying treatment to the wounds, which had appeared all over Naruto's body. Yamato grabbed Sakura's shoulder and started giving her his own chakra to aid in the healing process. The anbu captain grimaced.

"I did think it was odd that he emerged unscathed from that column of chakra. What I don't understand is why the effects are delayed…"

"**I can tell you.**"Naruto said, though his eyes were still closed and his face was blank. His voice had also been uncharacteristically deep.

Yamato stared at Naruto in awe, and a little fear. "Kyuubi?"

"**Bingo. Now listen up, cuz I don't want to repeat myself. As you might not know, the kit and I merged to kill that snake. Since this is a new development, I don't have much control over it. I've been healing him up till now but since his chakra and mine are now mixed my chakra has trouble working to heal him, as it became inactive when he zonked out. Luckily, this won't kill him. Any other injuries I've already dealt with, and this isn't that serious. However,**" He added. "**It would have been if I had even a minute less to heal the kit.**"

Sakura let out a stored breath, still working her jutsu. Yamato also looked relieved, but didn't take his eyes off Naruto.

"I want that to be true, but to be frank, why in the hell should I believe a single thing you tell me?" Yamato asked.

The fox laughed with Naruto's mouth; a deep, jovial noise that actually seemed strangely soothing. "**Because,**_** human**_" The Kyuubi replied, His voice suddenly serious, even menacing. "**Unlike a sad number of you pathetic humans, I actually care for the kit. He has no family, and until he met people like the vixen over there**" He said, Naruto's right hand waving over in Sakura's direction. "**he was treated like shit in Konoha. Therefore his well-being falls to me. He will not die before his time, nor will I stand for anymore injustices done to the kit.**" With that, Naruto's mouth closed and it became clear that the Kyuubi had finished.

Oddly enough, the first sound heard after the Fox's speech was Sakura giggling. Yamato looked at her with one eyebrow raised. Sakura suppressed her mirth just long enough to ask "Vixen?"

She stopped after a couple more moments; then, with Yamato's help, began healing Naruto's wounds again, which finally began to heal over, though it became apparent that the nastier ones would scar.

Yamato was trying hard to focus on healing Naruto, but his thoughts were constantly interrupted by what the Kyuubi had told them. _A merger?_ He thought. _The Hokage will definitely want to know about this, and the council cannot be given any advance notice. If they approach this issue with their guns loaded, Naruto's life will turn into a living hell, if they allow him to live at all. _

When he and Sakura had finished the captain raised his head to see Sai approaching with all three of the clones he had sent.

Yamato dismissed the clones, then sifted through the memories he had gained. The three copies had found Sai running from a massive explosion. They had then returned here as a group.

Yamato looked at Sai. "What caused the explosion?"

Sai's face was serious. "I followed a fleeing ninja to what seemed to be Orochimaru's hideout here. He attacked me and I killed him. I sealed his body in a scroll for inspection later."

Yamato hid his surprise at that particular piece of information. "You must be quite good at fuinjutsu, then. That wasn't included in your file."

Sai smiled. This time, though none but Yamato spotted it, the smile wasn't fake. "Well, I'm not what you'd call 'good'. I saw the opportunity and I got lucky."

_Bullshit_. The captain thought, but he motioned for Sai to continue.

The anbu resumed his tale. "I entered what seemed to be a research lab, and noticed that the computers were flashing red. They all read 'self-destruct sequence' so I left. Then I ran into your clones. Not that much to tell." He finished.

Yamato nodded, though he was suspicious. _I'll have Ibiki talk to him when we get home_. He thought. Then he noticed the last clone approaching. He dismissed the copy, then read the memories and relayed them to his team.

"Kabuto's gone. He wasn't in the blast radius so I assume he's alive, but there's no telling how he got away or where he went. In any case, he's been given a very good head start so pursuit is illogical."

The team accepted that. They had no stomach to go on a wild goose chase, especially with the lot of them exhausted from battle.

Sakura had finished healing Naruto and stood, supporting the blonde on her shoulder. Sai noticed his teammate for the first time then and took a step back with his mouth open, shocked at the genin's more….._animalistic_ features. When Sakura shot him a look, though, he displayed the presence of mind to keep his mouth shut.

"You'll find out later." Yamato explained, settling Sai's questioning expression. _I am not telling you this until I know you left and right, kid_. The captain thought.

"We're finished here." He said. "Let's go home!" Sakura smiled, but Sai stepped forward.

"I have a question. Am I correct in assuming Naruto was fighting Orochimaru, and was defeated?"

Before Yamato could answer Sakura looked at Sai and proudly declared. "He didn't lose. Orochimaru was in Sasuke's body and Naruto defeated him. He collapsed from exhaustion, not his injuries."

_Sasuke's body? That was unexpected. At least it means that Sasuke is dead._ Sai thought. "Orochimaru is dead then?" He asked.

Yamato shook his head. "No, he has been severely injured but he escaped. Attempting to track him brought no results."

Sai nodded, his curiosity sated.

Yamato made a wood clone to carry Naruto and the four of them set off back the way they came, to Konoha, and likely a strange reception.

**Well, there ya go. It ain't much, but I'd feel weird having them get home and do all this in the same chapter.**

**I start school tomorrow and I have a full class load, so it may be as long as a week before I get another chance to update, but please bear with me.**

**Anyways, that's chapter four. Hope ya liked it. I have to go and seel my soul to the devil (senior year).**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. A Headache for the Hokage

**Wassupcheezits? Anyways, I apologize for the wait, but the first second, and third weeks of school found it fun to crush my testicles, brain, and heart at the same time. Translation: sucky week. Not to mention I got college essays to worry about.**

**To get back on topic, Team Kakashi returns to Konoha today. I'm afraid this chapter may sound boring cuz I don't intend for there to be any action, but it must happen, so bear with me.**

***dattebayo***

The reformed Team Kakashi approached the gates of Konoha, slight apprehension in all of their minds. Yamato, Sakura, and Naruto were nervous because of the merger. Under Yamato's urging and his own common sense, Naruto had gone back to his completely human look using a henge- post becoming a half-demon and post clothes-destruction - to avoid stares until they met the Hokage.

Sai was apprehensive because he had failed to complete his entire mission. _I failed to get physical proof of Sasuke's death_. Sai thought. _But I can use the mission reports to satisfy Danzo-sama. He is a man of experience, so hopefully I won't get reprimanded_; _much. _Sai was not truly emotionless, but his thoughts were serious, cautious, and analytical. Though he occasionally had a little too much fun throwing out fake insults, he did have the demeanor of an Anbu-member.

That way of living was telling him to be slightly wary of his boss, and quite wary of his team, Naruto and Yamato in particular.

Naruto's physical features, at a guess, suggested a massive influx of demonic chakra that he had not yet recovered from. However, Naruto had kept pace with them on the way home and even seemed to be going slower than he was capable of, showing that the chakra was helping him rather than harming him. The challenge would likely come in controlling it, if Sai knew his jutsu principles regarding chakra control vs chakra capacity.

Yamato clearly did not trust Sai. He had been wary of him at first, undoubtedly because Danzo had appointed him, But Sai knew the true distrust had begun when he had returned from incinerating Orochimaru's lab. Yamato had not believed his story that the place had been set to self-destruct, plausible as it actually was.

That was truly worrisome because at the urging of such a high-ranking anbu member, he could be turned over to Inoichi or Ibiki for examination, which, if they were able to shatter his mind, would expose the continued existence of Root division. That could not happen.

Because of the seal on his tongue, Sai could never verbally betray Danzo, but if he was probed by jutsu, and not interrogated, the seal would be useless.

Izumo and Kotetsu guarded the gate that day, seemingly off-duty from fetching paper to the Hokage's office. Izumo held a clipboard, for checking shinobi in and out of the village, while Kotetsu watched them, licking some syrup off of a kunai, the open jar in his free hand. Yamato approached Izumo and identified them.

"Team Kakashi reporting back from the Land of Rice Paddies." He stated officially.

Izumo looked at his clipboard and smiled. "Hope you guys had fun. I don't know what you were doing, but it says here that when you returned the Hokage wants you immediately. So I'm afraid the bathrooms will have to wait." He joked. Then the chunin took on a wistful expression. "Sounds like a decent A-rank." Staying in the village most of the time kind of sucked for an on-duty chunin.

Yamato nodded. "It was." He turned to his team. "Let's go."

As they began walking, Sakura took a glance at Naruto. She had been checking to see if his burns would come back. She hadn't had much experience with the Kyuubi's chakra, and as a medic, regeneration was something she found hard to take at face value.

Also, if she ever got around to admitting it, she'd taken a peak or two _without _injuries in mind. It was weird; she hadn't really noticed that Naruto had changed so much until now. Maybe it was because she no longer had Sasuke to worry about.

She blushed quickly and then turned her eyes away, only to see Kotetsu smirking at her. He winked. _You like him_. Sakura rolled her eyes. _Buzz off. _She'd gotten to know Izumo and Kotetsu due to the fact that all three of them spent a lot of time with the Hokage, and Sakura had learned that they were good guys, if with overdeveloped senses of humor. Kotetsu, in particular, was a huge tease.

As Sakura dismissed her thoughts, Team Kakashi walked into the main street and made a beeline for the Hokage's tower. Naruto was relieved to see that the villagers seemed to be taking a neutral attitude towards him.

His relations with the villagers had improved some since it had gone around that he stopped Gaara during the assault on the village two years ago, and since he helped bring back Tsunade, but even on a god day, he wasn't surprised to receive a dirty look or uncouth insult. His team seemed to be warding that of. A couple times, before Sasuke defected and he left with Jiraiya, Sakura and Kakashi had been very vocal indeed to a few of the nastier villagers, telling them exactly what they_ and _the Hokage would do if they caught civilians showing such blatant disrespect for a warrior of the village. Sasuke had never really cared

It's not that Naruto was incapable of standing up for himself, but telling people to leave him be had only made it worse for him in the past, and a ninja on duty was not allowed to fight civilians. One of the reasons he treasured friends so was that they made him a normal person, _not _the hated jinchuuriki, and they didn't stand for anyone thinking differently.

As they neared the Hokage's tower, Naruto suddenly swore and stopped walking. The others turned to look at him. Sai's expression was blank, Yamato's was inquisitive, and Sakura was between curious and mad.

"What's your problem, Naruto?" She asked, annoyed.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and the team heard his unseen claws scraping his mane.

"Well, we're on our way to see baa-chan, which means I'll have to un-henge, and my clothes are ruined! I mean, my jacket and shirt are just plain gone, and my pants are almost shredded! Should I be going to Hokage tower like this? It's embarrassing!"

Yamato facepalmed. "Naruto, I suggested we stop to buy clothes on the road. You said you were fine." He ground out.

"Well, I didn't know we'd have to get debriefed right away! And I didn't buy clothes then because I wasn't cold! It's kinda hard to be with….you know." That elicited a nod or two. If you had fur on a good deal of your body, getting cold would be a pretty last-minute concern.

Sakura strode forward and grabbed Naruto's arm. "It figures you'd be worried about being embarrassed rather than being presentable. You're going, baka, so suck it up." Then, with a noticeable grin, the rosette began to drag the struggling half-demon down the street, all the while ignoring his protests.

"But Sakura-chan, that's not fair! Sakura-chaaan!"

As Yamato and Sai followed along, they heard Sakura say "Naruto you baka!" and a loud *smack*. They saw Naruto rubbing his cheek, with Sakura still leading him. Yamato grinned, and even Sai couldn't help a small smile. He just hoped it was assumed to be fake.

They continued to walk down the main street, Naruto having waved to Teuchi and Ayame at Ichiraku's as they passed. They had just looked oddly at the sight of their favorite customer being dragged away by his teammate. Team Kakashi arrived at the tower and Yamato spoke to the receptionist, who sent them upstairs to the Hokage.

Yamato knocked on the door of Tsunade's office. On the surface he was calm but inside he was a bit afraid he'd get hit for allowing such an obscene amount of craziness during the mission. The Fifth never had much hold on her legendary temper.

Shizune opened the door, an empty tray in her hands. She smiled brightly at the sight of Team Kakashi.

Naruto returned her smile. "Hey, Shizune-neesan." He greeted.

"Nice to see you all back." She said. "I'll warn you though, Tsunade-sama's not in the best of moods." She leaned in close. "It's been a bad day for paperwork." She whispered.

Naruto swallowed his apprehension. "Well, neesan, I will brave the wrath of a stressed out old woman for the sake of my village!" He puffed out his chest and walked right into the office, bold as you please.

As the rest of the team made to follow, Shizune made her exit to perform other duties. There was a *poof* as Naruto's henge was undone, and the team heard a loud, rather slurred roar of "Brat, where in the name of Kami are your clothes?"

*universal facepalm*

Yamato noticed two things upon entering. Firstly, the Hokage's desk was piled high with stacks of paper, and top of those were bottles of sake. The second thing was that Tsunade's expression was going from shocked to saddened and concerned in record time.

The beautiful Hokage sobered and reached out her hand and touched Naruto's cheek, marveling at how he'd changed.

"Naruto…" She shut her eyes. "ALL OF YOU SIT DOWN. NOW!" As team Kakashi rushed to obey, she went back to her desk, sat, and folded her hands, glaring.

"Mission report first, captain. Then, explain." She was speaking to Naruto last.

That was not a great surprise, though mission reports were usually filled out in writing after the debrief. Yamato cleared his throat and began recounting. "We reached the rendezvous without issue. We waited briefly before KabutoYakushi arrived, presumably for the meeting. I confronted him disguised as Sasori. Unfortunately, he was aware of us and attacked me. I signaled my team, and we beat him, badly I might add, and took him hostage." He paused to take a breath. "We retreated to rest and think over our next move. Sai and I took a quick patrol to ensure we were undiscovered, and were attacked by thirty confirmed Otogakure shinobi, all around chunin level. We killed them. Sai chased one to Orochimaru's hideout." The captain nodded to Sai, indicating that he should continue.

Sai inclined his head and spoke. "I killed the ninja. His body is sealed in a scroll for inspection. I was hoping we could check to see if Orochimaru is still fond of genetically enhancing his men."

Tsunade accepted that with a bob of her head.

Sai continued. "I searched the hideout thoroughly. I estimate it measured about a square half mile in area, but i found neither people nor existing chakra signatures. When I reached the lab, it was apparent someone had been there recently. I felt a faint chakra signature, with immense concentration and...killer intent. I started searching the lab for research and other evidence when the computers started a self-destruct sequence. I ran away in time to escape the explosion, and was met on the way back to my team by Yamato-san's clones. Then we headed back."

Tsunade seemed satisfied, so she turned to Sakura. "You were with Naruto?" she guessed.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, but I'll let him tell the story." In response to this, Naruto cut in. "Baa-chan, what I'm about to tell you relates to an S-rank secret, so I would ask that Sai leave us. He's the only one without prior knowledge." Tsunade noticed that Naruto seemed determined, but also a tad nervous. Tsuande looked to Sai and gave him a nod. "You are dismissed."

Sai's expression stayed nuetral. "Yes, Godaime-sama." He quickly exited, closing the door softly behind him.

Naruto took a deep breath. "As you can probably tell, this relates to my, uh, tenant." Tsunade nodded. "I assumed so. You've been changed, Naruto."

He nodded and began explaining. "Well, Sakura-chan and I were guarding Kabuto. Yamato-taicho had shut him in a wood shell. Sakura-chan and I started talking about Sasuke, and then Orochimaru showed up." He purposely left out the part about Sakura breaking down into tears. He didn't want to embarass her. "Orochimaru was in the teme's body." Tsuande's eyebrows shot into her hairline.

"Do you know how he did it?" She asked. "The old pervert's lousy company, but he knows what he's doing. He said Orochimaru needed three years. Did he use that same jutsu?"

Naruto shook his head sadly. Sakura looked melancholy. "The snake didn't need it. I sensed his chakra signature and Sasuke's mixed in with it. He explained that he'd...transferred his chakra to Sasuke, forcibly overpowering his will and taking his body permanently. He wouldn't need another surrogate because he said all of Sasuke's power didn't belong to the body but to his chakra. Even the sharingan." He took a deep, but shaky breath. "I was already channeling the Kyuubi's chakra. I attacked him. I destroyed the landscape, but for some reason none of my attacks could hurt him. They were both A-rank wind jutsus too. I invented the Slam Dance and Falcon rush specifically for beating people like him. He was hit hard and fast but it didn't do jack."

Tsuande nodded and Naruto went on. "He was way stronger than either he or Sasuke should have been alone. I had three tails, but I couldn't even touch him. He was too fast...faster than bushy brows, even. I can't explain what happened next. I felt angry. He called me dobe, just like the teme used to, and I was madder than I had ever been. I told him he was going to hell, and I let it go." Tsuande looked at Naruto with a sad, but very accusatory expression. "I let the fox out, like with what happeed to ero-sennin when he tried to loosen up my seal." The Hokage's expression hardened. "I don't remember what happened next, but Sakura saw it." He turned to his teammate, who now seemed to be fighting back some tears, and put a comforting hand (claws retracted) on her shoulder.

The rosette cleared her voice and wiped her eyes quickly. The grief of losing Sasuke had faded somewhat on the way back home, but now it had hit her again during Naruto's recounting of the mission. She raised her head to look her teacher in the eye, and said "I remember most of it…..Naruto was making this horrible sound, somewhere between being angry and in pain."

Naruto cut in. "It was both." He muttered.

Sakura glanced at Naruto briefly and then continued. "I couldn't really tell who it was, Naruto or the Kyuubi. His skin started peeling off, and there was this black cloud around him….When it cleared, Naruto looked like a demon."

At this point, Yamato spoke up for the first time since Sai had left. "Jiraiya said that when four tails of chakra are released, Naruto looks like a miniature Kyuubi." For his part, the ninja in question stayed silent and listened. He didn't like discussing this. Although he had some trust for his demon and it had been by his own choice, Naruto despised losing control of himself.

Sakura continued. "Naruto attacked Orochimaru again, and they seemed evenly matched. Then Orochimaru said 'test me, be the first victim of my sharingan!' The fox…Naruto….I don't know which it was-"

The blonde cut in again. "Again, it was both. When I get like that, the fox isn't fully in control, but neither am I. It's a shared psyche. Ero-sennin and I talked about it after it happened during my training."

Though a bit surprised, Tsunade nodded. Sakura's eyes had widened at Naruto's explanation, before returning to her tale.

"Well, Naruto made a chakra sphere in front of him. Then he…uh….ate it." Tsunade's eyes widened slightly in interest. "He started swelling up like a bowling ball. It actually would have been funny if the circumstances were different. Then Orochimaru said something, I don't know what, I was too far away. He used a jutsu I've never seen before. Tsunade-sama, he made what looked like a _black hole_! Naruto shot out this red beam from his mouth. It was the most intense chakra I've ever felt." She added in an undertone. "But it hit the vortex and just canceled out. Naruto's red chakra receded and Orochimaru was going to kill him. I tried to fight him but he hit me once and I blacked out." Her voice became a tad embarrassed when she said the last part. Losing easily wasn't something she was used to.

Tsunade sighed deeply. "It sounds like he had you cornered. Yamato, I sent you with this team for the purpose of suppressing the Kyuubi's chakra if necessary. When did _you_ arrive? Surely you felt all of this?"

The addressed man shook his head. "Yes, I did, but by the time I got there all of that had already happened. Sai and I were attacked by thirty ninja, Hokage-sama. Disposing of them was _not_ a two-second job. And besides, when I got there things were already under control. I didn't fight Orochimaru. The one who made him flee was…" Yamato grinned then. He jerked his head towards Naruto. "Naruto."

Tsunade looked to Naruto then with a look of surprise. "I'll say that I'm impressed, brat. Tell me how it happened, because I'm hoping it explains this." She flicked the genin's forehead, jarring loose a couple red-streaked blonde hairs. She held them in front of him, inquisitive.

Naruto took a deep breath. "I woke up and saw Orochimaru with his sword at Sakura-chan's throat. I knew I couldn't stop him myself so I talked to the Kyuubi-"

"You did what?" Tsuande yelled. "Did he offer you power? You didn't do anything to the seal, did you? Is that why you look like this?"

Naruto just waved his hands, trying to calm her down. "Woah, Baa-chan! Lemme finish! Old fuzzball isn't even that bad!"

Inside Naruto, the Fox snorted. _**Fuzzball. Hmph.**_

Naruto suppressed a laugh, having heard the Kyuubi's complaint, and explained. "The Kyuubi told me that he didn't want to attack the village. He won't say what happened exactly, but he definitely didn't do it freely. He apologized for getting me into this situation when I was little, and when the villagers would hurt me or I'd get depressed he'd make me feel better. He's got a stick up his ass but the Fox is my friend, ok?"

Now _that _elicited a shock from all present. They all thought that Naruto hated the Fox.

The blonde raked his fingers through his red-streaked hair, and went on. "He said that I couldn't take Orochimaru without his chakra, and his chakra was all but useless against the snake-bastard He said there was something we could do, but it had never been tried before." He shrugged. "I couldn't afford to lose, so I agreed." A quick shudder struck him as he recalled the agonizing process. "It hurt a lot. More than anything I'd felt before. I can't really describe it…"

Tsunade and Sakura looked very sad, while even Yamato had a slight frown.

"You were screaming. It sounded painful." Sakura said. She touched her teammate's shoulder in comfort.

Naruto nodded slowly, then breathed in and started again. "When I came to, I looked like this. The Fox told me he merged our chakras."

Sakura's jaw dropped, and Yamato's slight frown increased in size. Tsunade's reaction, surprisingly, was the most extreme. Her brow furrowed, she frowned heavily, and then she hit a button on her desk hard enough to splinter it slightly.

After a second, Shizune's voice came on. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Send a hawk to Jiraiya. Tell him that my red dog is missing."

"Yes, ma'am."

The exchange finished, the Hokage released the button.

"Baa-chan?" the now revealed half-demon asked.

"It's a code." She responded. "It means your seal needs attention, or in general something happened that involves the fox. He's the only one capable of repairing your seal."

Naruto frowned. "I don't want anyone messing with it, ero-sennin or not; especially since it functions fine." Tsunade was about to speak but he cut her off.

"I've checked already. It still appears when I use chakra and it looks no different than it always has. Besides, it's doing its job, the Kyuubi's still stuck in my guts right? I'm a jinchuuriki whether I like it or not, and if I'm gonna be stuck with the shitty parts of the deal I deserve some of the perks!"

Inside Naruto, the Kyuubi was cheering. _**Yeah, you tell her kit! Not anybody can look as awesome as that! I knew you'd dig the new look!**_

Tsunade sighed again. She was doing that a _lot _today. "Naruto, look at yourself. Ninja can sense henges if they try at all, and considering your lack of skill in genjutsu, placing one on you is impractical. It's going to be painfully obvious, kid." She hoped he'd see reason.

Naruto dashed her hopes when he shook his head firmly. "Baa-chan, I don't care anymore. The council can say whatever they want, and so can the civilians. I have people I trust, and if they abandon me because of this, they just weren't good friends to begin with. Besides…" A vicious gleam set in the blonde's blood-red eyes with their slit pupils. "..I know for a fact that the Council won't be able to touch me. Orochimaru summoned five snakes, four almost Bunta's size and one just as big, and I killed then all. Then I punched holes through the bastard's shoulders. His arms won't work, not in Sasuke's body. I would've killed him, but he ran like the coward he is."

Tsunade's eyebrows decided to rapidly ascend for the umpteenth time. "Five snakes?"

Naruto nodded proudly. "All dead. I've got a new power, but I don't know what it really is, or even what to call it. All I know is that is requires fire, lightning, and wind."

Yamato spoke up. "Hokage-sama, that does deserve discussion. He created a column of purple energy. It was almost too bright to look at, and it completely incinerated two snakes, and downed Orochimaru." Sakura nodded in affirmation.

"Naruto….." Tsunade said. "You're describing a triple-element technique, or bloodline expansion. The only ones to even have one are the second and third Tsuchikages. Show me."

Naruto furrowed his brow and concentrated. He snapped his fingers, causing a small flicker of plasma-though he didn't know it-to flicker into existence. The purple piece of energy crackled loudly, then fizzed out of existence.

Naruto grimaced. "It's harder to make it work since the fight ended. I think the merger gave me one huge boost, but a temporary one."

_**Kit, lemme explain things.**_

_Why?_

_**Cause I know what's going on, and I only want to have to explain it once. Let me have your voice for a minute. **_

_Fine. But no embarrassing remarks, fuzzball!_

_**Shut up! Stupid kit…..You're insufferable….**_

Naruto's eyes, which had closed for a second, reopened just as Sakura began to formulate a question as to what was wrong. She quickly shut her mouth at the familiar sound of the Kyuubi's deep voice coming from Naruto's mouth.

He addressed all three present, Naruto's face in a smug grin. "**Vixen, bug-eyes, tits.**" The fox said, inclining Naruto's head.

Yamato facepalmed, Sakura sweat dropped, and Tsunade's eye began twitching. Then the vulpine demon's voice went serious. "**Well met, Senju. When you see him in the next life, let your granddad know he was a fine opponent, though I consider his kekkai genkai the highest degree of cheating.**"

The Godaime didn't know whether to be threatened or surprised. "**Anyways,**" The Kyuubi continued. "**I need to explain a couple things. Naruto is indeed stronger than he was before, but he was correct in assuming the merger made him a god only temporarily. Now he is around jonin level in strength and speed. His chakra reserves, however, are far above kage level, especially with how concentrated it is.**" Naruto's face split into a happy smile. "**The next part was actually a surprise to me. Naruto can now use fire techniques, just like me. In fact, a few went and imprinted themselves into his chakra coils. He's now master of three personal favorites.**" The Kyuubi roared with laughter. "**I still can't believe the kit pulled off an **_**expansion**_**, of all things! Anyways, I looked at his chakra while you were all babbling, and it's plasma. The combination of wind, fire, and lightning makes plasma. It's not completely unheard of. Demons are constructs of chakra, and I remember one very annoying eagle demon giving that ability to a clan in whirlpool. Naruto must be descended if he can actually form the combination, and not just use them individually. And speaking of descent,**" He looked right at Tsunade. "**I have felt both of their chakras, and I know who they are. I never forget a signature. You'd best tell the kit soon, for if you don't, I will. He's suffered enough, and it is my job to care for him. Withholding that knowledge is pointless, anyway, since those the Third worried about are either dead, or too old to fight a hanyou in his prime.** **I've said what I needed to say. Farewell.**"

Naruto's head slumped down, then back up. He blinked a couple times at the astonished faces around him.

He paled. "Oh no, no, no, no, guys! Look, whatever he told you, I don't swing that way. And the incident at the hot springs was a total accident; and I swear I didn't buy the magazine, it was ero-sennin's, and-"

"Naruto," Sakura said. "What are you talking about?"

Naruto looked shocked, and then relieved. "Uuuum, nothing at all Sakura-chan! Not a single thing!" Yamato couldn't help but notice his voice shook.

"So Baa-chan, what'd he tell you?"Naruto asked Tsunade, changing the subject.

"That you were right," She began. "Your enormous boost in power was temporary and while your physical abilities have increased along with your chakra, your technique still seems to be refined. He also told us that your new ability is a bloodline expansion called Plasma Style."

Naruto suppressed both his shock and the sudden urge to jump in air and start cheering.

"Nothing else?"

"That's it." She said, sending a quick glance to Yamato and Sakura. Neither would understand the magnitude of the last piece of information the Kyuubi had shared. She already planned to tell Naruto on his sixteenth birthday, which was only a couple months away.

Tsunade, suddenly feeling all of her 54 years, decided to wrap things up. "I'll end this meeting now. Firstly, Naruto, if you have any problems _at all_, Jiraiya will suppress your demon chakra. And he will be inspecting your seal either way. You are to avoid being seen by the villagers if at all possible. Secondly, unless I say otherwise, the fact that you are now a hanyou is an SS-class secret. Naruto, I am forbidding even you from telling anyone."

He thought for a second, then nodded.

The Hokage continued. "Taicho, you are dismissed." He got up to leave. As the door closed, Tsunade said to Sakura. "Take Naruto to the store for a new outfit, preferably without any orange, then make sure he gets home and stays there."

The rosette nodded. "Yes, shishou. Naruto?"

The hanyou rose and followed his crush out the door. Tsuande sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She checked the multitude of sake bottles on and around her desk and found them all to be empty. She pressed the button on her desk.

"Tsuande-sama?"

"Sake Shizune. Lots and lots of sake."

End of Chapter 5

**There you guys go. I, again, am terribly sorry that it took so long. This chapter was a pain to write. Anyways, just a couple updates. I've decided, since I have no idea how to neatly translate "Plasma Release" I'm going to be switching over to the English way, using "Style" instead of the Japanese element names. **

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	6. Revision

**Yo, cheezits. Let's get straight to the point. This story is crap. Complete and utter crap. I've decided to take it and review every single chapter. The chapters will be re-released in a new story. I will upload the first one immediately after this.**

**I ask you all not to hate me. I'm keeping it the same, just with some good editing. It's going to be a new story so that people who wrote it off as crap before can give it a chance.**

**The new one's name is "A Fox's Heart V2"**

**I know I'm no genius, but I'd like to think that I don't suck, either. Please give it a try, I am begging you guys! **


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